


Fairy Tales (Are More Than True)

by A_Romantic



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coraline Fusion, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-15 17:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15417531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Romantic/pseuds/A_Romantic
Summary: Nikki finds a tiny door in the wall of her mom's new apartment, and happiness and an unbroken family suddenly seems possible. But it might be one adventure too dangerous for a curious ten year old girl with almost zero self-preservation skills.





	Fairy Tales (Are More Than True)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Find My Own Way](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13798932) by [Insomnia_Productions](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insomnia_Productions/pseuds/Insomnia_Productions). 



> This story takes place after Find My Own Way, and well...I like my tiny green-haired child too much not to write for her. So here you go!
> 
> The decision to replace the Flower Scouts with Gwen was made by accident, but Iets just say that the police caught onto the meth thing and David was very disappointed in Ms. Priss.
> 
> Also, before you tell me in the comments, yes I wrote the entire story without the cat. It was a complete accident, and there isn't really a Camp Camp equivalent to the cat except for maybe Muack, but she already had her role.

There was a lot of old furniture in the apartment. The landlord, who took Nikki biting his hand like a champ and cheerfully accepted that she had asserted her dominance, explained that much of it was left by the former owners. Her mom shrugged and didn't really care, and Nikki recognized the way she looked over the landlord and her concluding expression enough to know that he won't be one of the boyfriends. 

Nikki was left to unpack her stuff in her own room, and she tried not to feel upset at how dreary it is. The ceiling was cracked and the mattress was hard and there were boxes with faded marker on them in the closet that make it hard to fit all her clothing inside. Not that it was any of the stuff she wore. They were the dresses her mom and her dad bought her every now and then, and she preferred her grass-stained overalls and her numerous t-shirts from Goodwill with faded patterns. That was the stuff she put in the small dresser.

Once her bed was made and her stuff was put away, she couldn't help but let curiosity drive her to pull out the first box and tear it open. Inside was different bedding, a soft shade of blue instead of the rainbow that was currently on the bed. She set that aside, pushing aside thoughts of incredible pillow forts she could make to focus on the next box.

Each box seems to get more boring as she goes, and her imagination started to fail her. She can't take much of threadbare towel sets or old shower curtains.

The last box almost promised to be too dull to open, but she opened it anyway, already committed.

This one was different.

On top was clothing, pants and shirts that seem only a bit big for her. Most of the designs were faded, and she decided that the kid who used to wear them didn't need them anymore, probably outgrowing them before moving away. They could make up for what of her wardrobe was taken up by dresses that couldn't handle Nikki or her kind of playing.

Underneath the clothes was where the real treasure is, and it felt like treasure as she looked inside with wide, sparkling eyes.

There was a blue hoodie, and when she felt the fabric it was soft. She squealed and pulled it over her head, enjoying the texture on her skin that almost alleviated the skin-crawling she had felt since they had started that long drive away from her old house and the woods she loved playing in.

Next, there was a stuffed bear. He was old, and worn, and obviously so well-loved that coming up with a name for him seemed silly, because he clearly already had one she just hadn't learned yet. Beside him was a doll with green yarn curls and red overalls, and she looked even older than the bear, with pink button eyes that seemed to stare at her.

The treasure was cool, but none of the items screamed that adventure was around the corner.

She sighed and stuck her hands in the hoodie pocket, and suddenly felt something long and metal. She quickly pulled it out and stared in awe.

It was a black metal key, which looked almost cartoony in its design and everything about it indicated there must be an adventure somewhere in this building.

She messily packed up all the boxes except the last one, shuffling to put the clothes in the dresser and placing the bear and the doll in places of honor on her bed. Her mom had stopped buying her stuffed animals a long time ago, and the only dolls she got anymore were Barbies that were hard to pose in swordfights, so having two new friends could possibly make the hard mattress and cracked ceiling more welcoming.

Nikki wasn't called to dinner moments later. Instead she heard her mother on the phone for take-out and left the key and the hoodie behind, on her tiny, rickety bedside table and the floor respectively. Dinner was filled with her mother on the phone and Nikki asking questions that weren't answered, and Nikki missed her dad in that moment if only because dinners were never boring whenever he and Mom got back together.

After a dull hour of eating chow mien and giving up on conversation, she got ready for bed and laid down in the mattress, mapping out the cracks in the ceiling. She wondered if the kid who had owned all this stuff ever missed any part of his room, or if this place is just completely unloveable.

She went to sleep hugging the doll to her chest and hoped things would get better.

* * *

Everybody in this place was a weirdo. There was the lady in the basement who cursed more than Nikki's mom did and watched TV shows that even Nikki knew were trash and didn't argue much when she popped in to escape from her mom and her escapades with boyfriends, there was the kid who always wore a helmet and talked about wanting to go to space, there was the creepy old guy with a hook hand that Gwen from the basement told her to stay away from, there was the weird, morally questionable old man who sometimes dropped by the apartment at the top of the building that Gwen also told her to stay away from, and there was obviously the landlord David, who was eternally peppy and always up for talking to her and everyone else.

The weird thing about David was how nice he was. Nikki was used to adults who either didn't care or were only nice to get something from her, but David was just...nice! And he got slightly frantic and antsy at times but he never lost his temper really, and Nikki messed with him because he didn't shout at her or just ignore her.

Still, none of it was really great. Most of the adults were scary, with only Gwen or David being any cool. Space Kid was nice but adventures with him weren't that fun when all he wanted to do was to go to space and sometimes she wanted to be a warrior knight or a jungle explorer or do anything other than go to space. Mom ignored her and sometimes brought home guys and Nikki had to dodge the master bedroom and hope that they weren't getting adventurous in any other location in the apartment. There was a garden that David promised would look amazing but in that moment it was gray and lifeless and didn't help with the shuddering feeling at all.

The hoodie still did help, thankfully. Sometimes when she felt like she is going to leap out of her skin from how uncomfortable she felt, she'd pull it on and the feeling would go away a little. It didn't fix it, but it distracted from it.

One time she wore it to a visit to Gwen's basement and the woman immediately asked where she got it.

"It was in my room of the apartment," Nikki answered, confused.

Gwen looked like she was about to order her to take it off, but instead she sighed, flopping back into her chair, telling her, "Just don't wear it around David."

She took Gwen's advice. One thing she learned quickly was the Gwen was usually right, when the creepy old guy carried dead animals into his apartment and the other creepy old guy sometimes showed up with something even she could tell was highly illegal.

Still, what was so wrong with a hoodie?

* * *

Her mom wasn't home for dinner that night. There weren't a lot of groceries, but peanut butter and jelly on slightly freezer burnt bread was still possible and she decided to explore the apartment instead of going to bed. It was then when she found the doll had been left on the floor near a keyhole in the wall and the faint outline of a tiny door under the graying wallpaper caught her attention.

She immediately thought of the key on her shaky bedside table, an unfulfilled promise of adventure that now seemed close to being fulfilled. It took her seconds to retrieve the key and a pair of scissors, and she used the blade of the scissors to cut the paper around the tiny door. Once that was done, she turned the key and opened the door.

All there was behind it was a brick wall.

She nearly threw the key against the wall, feeling betrayed. Instead, however, she just kicked the wall beside the opening and slammed the door, going off to her room to go to bed before Mom got home with another boyfriend that wasn't Dad.

The mattress was hard and the cracks on the ceiling looked like they might open up and swallow her whole, and she cried herself to sleep because it was just another disappointment on top of everything else at that point.

* * *

She woke up to a quacking sound.

It didn't make much sense, especially since the creature she was looking at was not a duck. It reminded her of that character from the one kids cartoon about the two brothers who built really awesome stuff everyday, except this one wasn't green and boxy.

It looked at her with emotionless beady eyes, giving her another quack before turning and running away with surprising speed.

Nikki ran after it, her mood instantly picking up at the sign of adventure, and she watched as the platypus slipped through the tiny door and she realized that the brick wall was gone, replaced by a strange tunnel that she didn't hesitate to climb into. 

When she climbed out, it looked like the apartment but brighter. The wallpaper was vibrant and new and she smelled something cooking and this was definitely not her apartment if someone was cooking and whoever was cooking was also humming and the voice sounded like-

She entered the kitchen to find a woman who looked like her mother at the stove, but it couldn't have possibly been Mom because Mom would have been on the phone or kissing someone instead of cooking and-

The woman turned, and Nikki couldn't help but flinch at the sight of black buttons over the eyes of this woman who looked like her mother.

"Hello Nikki," she said, and her voice was warm and kind in a way that was so unlike Mom's but it _was_  Mom's voice.

"Who are you?" Nikki asked, and she couldn't help the defensive way she said the words. "You're not my mom."

She smiled in a way that Mom never smiled, saying, "I am your Other Mother."

"...Other...Mother?"

"Of course," she answered, as if it was obvious. "Everyone has one." Nikki started to ask questions when she asked, "Can you get your Other Father, please? Dinner is almost ready."

Nikki blinked, before hesitantly nodding and wandering down the halls. The skin crawling feeling of being away from nature and those woods felt almost worse here, and she wished she had the hoodie to take the edge off the feeling.

She found a man who looked like her father in one of the rooms that was unused in her real apartment. This one was apparently an office now, but the button-eyed clone wasn't working, instead playing accordion. Dad couldn't play accordion, and Nikki knew that, but this was her Other Father she guessed and if her other mother could cook and didn't talk on phones then she guessed that made sense.

"Uh, dinner's ready," she announced, and he stopped playing.

Instead of getting mad at her for interrupting like Dad would have, he grinned and said, "Thanks, rascal. Let's go see what's on the menu!"

He reached for her hand, something Dad would never do, and she hesitated before taking it. Unlike Dad, he began asking questions about her day, and by the time they get to the dining table, Nikki found herself telling him, grateful that he wanted to know at all.

There was a lot of food, and Nikki didn't hesitate to gobble down as much as she could. Her Other Mother and Other Father didn't scold her, simply watching with content smiles as she ate her fill of the delicious, homemade feast. It was an experience she wasn't familiar with, not only getting that much attention, but having it without misbehaving first.

"Thank you!" she said cheerfully, her misgivings gone once she was full and pleasantly tired. "It was really good!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," the other Mother told her, smiling pleasantly. "Time for bed now, dear."

She got up, ready to put herself to bed, but was surprised when the Other Parents followed her, holding hands as they did. When she climbed into bed, the Other Mother tucked her in and the Other Father brushed her hair aside to kiss the top of her head. Once the lights were off, she saw the Other Mother kiss the Other Father on the cheek before the food coma kicked in and she felt herself getting sleepy.

Even with her skin feeling weird, it was the most comfortable Nikki had been in a long time, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Her mattress was hard when she woke up, her face smooshed up against the old bear, and she felt sad that she wasn't still there.

* * *

"Hey there, twerp," Gwen greeted her when she climbed down to the basement. "Toddlers and Tiaras is on." She looked up and notices the hoodie tied around Nikki's waist and gave a sigh. "You're lucky David isn't coming by 'til tomorrow."

She lifted one of the sleeves, rubbing her fingers on the inside lining before asking, "Why doesn't David like this hoodie?"

Gwen looked at her, before sighing again. She was quite the sigher. "Look, David is a very emotional, caring guy. He cares too much, and honestly in a shit world like this, it's admirable. But this place has a history of..."

"...of what?"

Gwen sighed again, and this time she looked tired. "...Look, David used to live here when he was younger. He loves this building. But a kid his age disappeared while he lived here, and another kid followed after he moved out. Then he bought this building after college to keep it from being demolished, basically fixed up this shithole by himself to keep it from being demolished. One of the first families to move in after that had this kid. He was such a little shit and kind of a jerk, but David likes almost everyone so obviously he liked him. Then the kid disappeared before I moved in, just like the two before him."

"...Oh." Nikki felt...unnerved that she was wearing the hoodie of a maybe-dead kid. "What happened to them?"

"David was sure something had happened to them, but from what I know all three kids had shitty parents who didn't give two fucks about their kids. My guess is they ran away, because why the fuck wouldn't they? I mean, Max's parents weren't even the ones to report him missing. It was David who had to do that, and from what I can tell it pretty much crushed him."

Nikki thought about her mom and bit her lip. When was the last time Mom had actually looked her in the eye or comforted her when she was upset? When was the last time she had even spoken to Dad instead of just mumbling greetings when he showed up before leaving again? And if she had worse parents, ones who didn't bother to buy her food or didn't even notice she was gone until too late, why would she stay?

She then thought about the Other Mother and Other Father, and part of her wondered why she stayed even now. Would her parents even notice if she never came home?

"Okay, even I can't take this much of Honey Boo Boo," Gwen grumbled, snapping her out of her thoughts. "How do you feel about some Bob Ross?"

Watching the man paint and explain the techniques in a quiet, happy voice was soothing, and the lack of nature didn't bother her as much as he created awesome landscapes. And soon Nikki wasn't thinking about running away or parents who didn't care and Other Parents who did.

* * *

The garden outside the Other building was flourishing, and Nikki ignored the Other Father in favor of diving into it, running through the plants and rolling around in the dirt and screaming with primal joy. The Other Father laughed at her antics as he tended to the plants, and Nikki wished that her father was really so accepting of her idea of fun. He normally scolded her for getting her clothes dirty when he paid attention, and even then that was when he wasn't distracted with wrestling with her mom.

Oddly enough, the itchy feeling under her skin didn't go away, even with her proximity to nature. The layer of dirt over her skin didn't even take the edge off.

Eventually the Other Mother called them inside and it was another big meal to devour while the Other Parents smiled at her.

"There's a show upstairs, if you want to see it," the Other Mother told her when she was done, the same content smile on her face as the night before. "A friend will be here to go with you in just a bit."

Before she could question who, the doorbell rang.

Outside was a clone of Space Kid with button eyes, and he smiled at her and didn't say anything.

"I fixed him just for you," the Other Mother said cheerfully, and the feeling on her skin spiked at those words. Space Kid was weird and sometimes annoying, but silencing him was weird in a way she didn't like, and the itchy feeling spiked.

"But I didn't mind him talking," she answered, looking up at the Other Mother with worried eyes.

The Other Mother's smile was still there as she told her, "It's better this way."

Nikki nodded reluctantly before following Space Kid up the stairs that match the ones Gwen told her never to go up. Though, in this place, Gwen's advice didn't seem to be as useful. In the regular world, Nikki would have snuck upstairs and peeked through the window, playing at ninja, but here she just raced up the stairs with Other Space Kid not far behind her.

Beside the door, she saw a clone of David. He was equally as silent as Space Kid, but he smiled just as wide as his other self usually did before leading them inside.

The show was hilarious and awesome, with platypodes like the one she saw when she first came doing strange tricks with Other Campbell. She guessed Other Campbell was much nicer and safer than Gwen told her regular Campbell was. Other Space Kid and Other David clapped with her, and she was glad that they could at least make that sound. The three ate cotton candy and watched with wonder until they were escorted out by a brightly smiling Campbell

As she and Other Space Kid went down the stairs, Other David didn't follow. Instead, he looked right at her from his place by the door when she turned towards him before heading down, holding his left hand up with the palm facing the ground, placing his right index finger between the index and middle fingers of his left hand, then pulled it away towards the right.

Nikki didn't understand, so she waved at him and shouted, "Bye!" She didn't miss the defeated look on his face, even though she couldn't understand why it was there.

When she got back to the Other apartment, she was barely able to say goodbye to Other Space Kid before she was shuffled inside by the Other Father, and the last thing she saw was the fearful expression on his face.

What was with everyone's faces?

The Other Parents tucked her in, and with the excitement of the day she easily fell asleep.

When she woke up on her hard mattress, she hugged the bear and the doll and wondered why anyone could be unhappy in such a perfect place.

* * *

"Hello Nikki!" David greeted her from the garden, waving one of his gloved hands cheerfully. "Want to come help me over here!"

She nodded and walked over, and he quickly showed her how to plant the bulbs into the ground. He offered her gloves, but she refused. Digging and getting dirt under her fingernails soothed the itch that had plagued her since the moment she left those woods back home. She felt like a person again, and it made her smile.

"Oh, I just can't wait until the tulips bloom!" David gushed, a gleeful smile on his face as he chattered on and on about how perfect the garden would look when everything bloomed and how they'd have a little piece of nature with them soon enough. Yet, Nikki couldn't get the image of a silent, button-eyed David from the Other World, defeated after gesturing at her.

She started to ask him something, but her spade struck something hard, and she used her hands to dig down and pull...something, from the hole.

"What's that you got there?" David asked, and she rubbed some of the dirt off of it to look through the hole at David.

"Some weird rock," she said.

He frowned. "Can I get a look at that?" She handed it to him, and he removed his gloves and wiped it off on his shirt before a grin made it to his face. "Oh, that's where that went!"

"What is it?" Nikki asks, curious.

"This used to belong to my friend when we were kids!" David explained, smiling brightly as he held it up so she could get a better look at it. "There was this woman who used to live in the basement of this building, same room as Gwen in fact, and she gave Jasper this rock and told him he'd need it. She said it was for seeing through illusions, but Jasper and I thought it was just silly." He then handed it to her, adding, "I think it's perfect for a young adventurer to have, don't you? Never know when you'll need a little magic!"

She ran her fingers against the smooth surface before tucking it into her pocket, saying, "Thanks David!"

"You're ab-so-lutely welcome!"

Nikki placed a bulb in the hole she found the weird rock in, and then she remembered what she was going to ask.

"Hey David?" she asked, looking up at him. "What does this mean?" She clumsily repeated the gesture Other David had made, before looking at David questioningly.

"Huh, you mean this?" He made the same gesture, exactly like Other David had, and Nikki nodded. "Well that's sign language for run away or escape. I don't know soneone would be signing that to you though. Is everything alright?" His face didn't look so cheerful anymore, and she wondered if he knew something that she didn't know.

She nodded again, although part of her wondered if that was really true or not.

* * *

Nikki was in her room, getting ready for bed, when she heard the front door slam. She pulled her pajama shirt completely on before taking a deep breath and stepping out of her room, silently heading for the kitchen.

In the kitchen was her mother, and she had gotten one of the bottles Nikki was told to never touch from the cabinet and a glass that she was pouring some of the liquid inside into. She looked terrible.

"Mom?"

Nikki's mother looked up, and she flinched at the sight of her mom's red eyes and streaking mascara and imperfect make up.

She expected her mother to tell her to go to bed.

Instead, her mom sighed and shoved the bottle and partially full glass to the side. "Hey, Nicolette." She gestured to the chair beside her and Nikki hesitantly complied, sliding into the chair and looking at her mother with concern.

Her mom leaned against the table in a tired, sad lump. "Sorry about that, kiddo. Did you need anything?"

"What's...what's wrong?"

Her mom scowled. "I'm a nymphomaniac with some clear psychological issues I should get checked, and ever damn person I want to date thinks I'm Julia Roberts and that they are supposed to fucking fix me. And then there are the fucked up ultimatums." She looked Nikki in the eyes and added, "Listen here, Nicolette. If anyone tries to force you to do something you don't want to do or some shit in order to get something you want, fuck that. No shit is worth that, okay?"

Nikki nodded. "Okay, Mom."

Her mom looked at her closely, then nodded. "Good girl." Then, she glanced at the cup and bottle before grabbing both, pouring both down the drain. "This whiskey is shit anyways."

Nikki silently stood up and went to bed, and sleep didn't come easy to her as she stared up at the cracks and wondered if staying here was really worth it.

She didn't go to the Other World that night.

* * *

Her mom was gone the next morning, and despite what bonding they might have done the previous night, Nikki knew that her mom wasn't likely going to pay any more attention to her. Moments like that were flukes, and she learned a long time ago that getting her hopes up never worked out

She went into the basement to find the TV off, and Gwen rushing around the place, dressed in a blouse and wearing make up.

"Sorry kid," she said, ruffling Nikki's hair as she headed for the door. "Got a job interview today. We can hang out tomorrow." With that, she rushed to her car and was gone in no time at all.

Nikki slumped with a sigh. Maybe David would be in the garden?

Instead of David, it was the Campbell, digging a hole in the garden and tossing away bulbs with contempt. It took her a moment to realize that those were the bulbs she and David had planted and she felt her blood begin to boil and all Gwen's warning were shoved to the back in her fury.

"Hey! Stop digging up the garden!"

Campbell looked at her, before rolling his eyes and saying, "This is none of your business kid. Go home and pretend you saw nothing."

David only barely managed to pull her off of him when he found her minutes later, and by that point Campbell was covered in bite marks and had only barely managed to preserve any hope for future progeny, and she was screaming at him in absolute rage.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Campbell," he said calmly. "I promise this won't happen again."

"Don't be sorry! He ruined our work!" She tried to pull herself from David's grasp as he carried her away.

Once they were away from the garden, on the other side of the building, he set her down and looked at her disapprovingly. "Nikki, I am very disappointed in you. That behavior was uncalled for-"

"He was ruining your work, David! He was just tossing the bulbs away!" She was so angry she felt like she was going to cry. "We worked hours on them and they were going to look so nice and ruined them to bury some stupid illegal thing again!"

David placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to reassure her with a forced smile. "It's okay! We can fix them later! It'll all be oka-"

"IT'S NOT OKAY!" Nikki finally shouted. "None of it is okay! It all sucks and I don't want to be here anymore! My mom and dad don't care and nobody here cares so stop pretending like you care! You don't! You just don't want to admit everything sucks here because then you'd have to do something!" Tears start dripping down her face, and she shoved David away and ran for her apartment, shutting the door and locking it so he couldn't follow her before heading for the little door.

The brick wall wasn't there, and so Nikki didn't hesitate to crawl through, wanting nothing to do with her world in that moment.

* * *

The note on the table told her to head downstairs, but she felt in a rebellious mood and headed towards the garden first.

There was no mean Campbell or David around, and so she rolled around in the dirt and played. The itching feeling didn't go away still, and part of her wondered why that was. Dirt and nature always helped, but she still wanted to crawl out of her skin and nothing here seemed to help that, even with how great everything else was.

The only way that could make sense was if the garden wasn't real dirt or real plants.

Finally, she sighed and went inside to find that, instead of Gwen's basement, there was a huge theatre. In the front row was Other Space Kid and Other David, leaving a space for her between them. Other Space Kid waved at her cheerfully before gesturing to the screen.

There, she watched a button-eyed Gwen appear, announcing dramatically, "Lady and gentlemen, welcome to our show! You guys pick the topic and we watch together." She held up a remote with a strange roller-ball in it, before pointing at Nikki. "Now, what would you like to see?"

"Adventure!" she cheered, her eyes lit up with excitement.

Other Gwen scrolled through thousands of options before pressing play, and she watched the cartoon that played with rapt attention. Then there was an episode of a reality show and then an action movie. Nikki barely took her eyes off the screen until Gwen announced it was over.

"That was awesome!" Nikki cheered as they left the basement, grinning so much her face was starting to hurt. "Soooooooo cool! Right Space Kid?"

Other Space Kid gave a thumbs up, and part of her wished he could talk to her.

She turned to notice Other David still by the door with that smile on his face, and was about to say bye when his face fell and he made the same gesture he had before after the visit to Other Campbell. Nikki quickly remembered what David had told her and a shudder ran down her spine, draining her excitement. Why...why was he telling her to escape? What did he want her to run away from?

"I'll...I'll be careful?" she hesitantly promised, and he gave a silent sigh before nodding, an uneasy smile on his face. With that, she and Other Space Kid headed for the door.

There was the Other Mother, smiling brightly when she arrived. "Hey, Nikki. Dinner is ready."

"Thanks!" she said cheerfully, giving Other Space Kid a quick pat on the shoulder before rushing in.

Dinner looked awesome and tasted even better, but her skin was crawling still and she kept thinking about Other David's warning and how even the garden wasn't helping her need for nature here, and so she couldn't get more than a couple of bites in before she stopped feeling hungry and began to pick at what remained on her plate. Something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what.

"Hey, Nikki?" the Other Mother suddenly spoke up. Nikki looked up from her plate to see her smiling warmly as she held a box in her hands. "If you want, we can make it so you can stay here forever."

Nikki blinked and her eyes went wide. "You mean...I get to live here? With you guys?"

"Of course," the Other Mother assured her. The Other Father said nothing, but he had a smile on his face when Nikki looked at him.

"I...I..." God, it was like a dream come true. Happily married parents who cared and homemade meals every night and getting tucked into bed instead of having to go to bed with barely a good night and friends who would go with her to incredible shows.

(Other David's sign language warning, the fearful face on Other Space Kid after Other Campbell's platypus circus, the way the Other Mother talked about "fixing" Other Space Kid, the itch under her skin that wouldn't go away even when it should.)

"Before you can stay, of course, there is still one thing we need to do," the Other Mother added, setting a box in front of Nikki. She looked at the box curiously and opened it, expecting a present or a contract or something.

Inside were two pink buttons, along with a needle and thread. Staring at them, the itch suddenly grew stronger, like spiders crawling under her skin. All the self-preservation instincts she had shoved down for years for the sale of adventure now roared back on top, screaming about how wrong this was.

"Now, you can have any color you want, but I thought pink suits you quite well," the Other Mother notes, smiling. "Of course, you can have blue, or brown, or green. Even black if you feel more traditional. Whatever you pick, once you sew them on, you'll get to be with us forever. Won't that be wonderful?"

_"If anyone tries to force you to do something you don't want to do or some shit in order to get something you want, fuck that. No shit is worth that, okay?"_

"...no."

"What was that, Nikki?"

She looks up at the Other Mother with an angry scowl. "No! I'm not going to sew buttons in my eyes, not for any of this!" She gestured around her. "I don't care if it is all amazing or whatever. I'm still not going to let you shove a needle in my eyes! How stupid do you think I am?!"

The Other Mother approached her, starting to put her hands on Nikki's shoulders as she smiled that same content, stupid smile that was starting to get on Nikki's nerves. "Why don't you sleep on it? I'm sure you'll ha-"

"No! I don't need to sleep on it!" Nikki shouted, shoving her away as hard as she could. "I want to go home!"

The last word appears to echo, and suddenly the Other Mother wasn't smiling. The room seemed to become dimmer and the air had a frightening chill.

"I'm going to count to three and you are going to apologize," she said, and her voice was dark and terrifying. Nikki could see the Other Father duck under the table, and she could feel him shaking through the wood. The way the Other Mother was sounding, Nikki wanted to hide too.

"One."

Her form began to get longer and thinner, her green curls darkening into limp black strands. She didn't look so human anymore as her face grew thin and sharp and color drained away from her until everything was black and white. She looked like a starving monster.

"Two."

Nikki felt terrified, but she refused to buckle, glaring up at the Other Mother with a stubbornness that only childen could manage in the face of something otherworldly and horrifying as her.

" _Three._ "

With that, the Other Mother grabbed her with long, needle like talons, and Nikki screamed and fought back as much as she could, attempting to bite and kick her to no avail. She approached a mirror and tossed Nikki at it, and instead of shattering glass and cuts there was a shift and a painful landing on hard floors. Nikki oriented herself to find herself in a dark room, staring at a mirror like the one she had just been violently tossed through.

" _You may come out when you learn to be a loving daughter._ "

Nikki was on her feet in seconds, beating her fists on the mirror in a desperate attempt to break out, but nothing happened. The room was silent except for her desperate shouting and the sound of her fists against the unbreaking glass. Eventually, her hands hurt and her throat hurt and she fell onto her knees, exhausted

How long would she be trapped here? Would she be stuck here forever unless she accepted those stupid buttons?

Would anyone even notice she was gone?

Nikki turned her back to the mirror, pulled her knees up to her chest, and started to shake. "I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna be here." Tears spilled down her cheeks and she buried her face in her arms, sobs quickly overtaking her. She was going to be stuck in a dark, empty room alone forever and her mom and dad wouldn't care and she had no friends who would care.

She didn't notice sudden lights until she heard voices.

"Are you okay?"

"Look at her, genius! Do you think she's fucking okay?"

"Guys, you're going to freak her out!"

Nikki looked up and gasped at the sight of three ghosts floating in front of her, looking at her with button eyes.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," the smallest of the three remarked, his voice aggravated.

"Who are you guys?, she asked, slightly awed by the transparent figures. And then, fearfully, "You don't work for the Other Mother, do you?" She pushed herself as close to the mirror as possible, not wanting to be anywhere near them if they were working for the awful monster who threw her in.

"That bitch? Fuck no!" The tallest one crossed his thin, incorporeal arms, and scowled.

"Quiet guys!" the third one whispered gravely, looking terrified, and the other two fell silent when he added, "The Beldam might be listening."

"Beldam?" she asked quietly, and all three of the ghosts shuddered at the word.

"Spider bitch," Short-and-Grumpy elaborated, scowling and crossing his arms in front of his chest. She could tell he was the grumpiest of the three, though the tall one seemed pretty grumpy too. "Other Mother. Whatever."

"She's the reason we're stuck here in the first place," Tall-and-Noodly added, sighing sadly. "If it wasn't for her, we'd all be alive now."

"Or at least not stuck in this fucking nightmare of an existence. This isn't what I call eternal nothingness!" The other two ghosts shushed Short-and-Grumpy when his volume picked up and his scowl grew even deeper.

"What happened?"

Mid-Sized-High-Tops looked around cautiously, as if checking to make sure it was all clear, before explaining, "The Beldam fed on us, like she wants to feed on you. She used dolls that looked like us to spy on us. She wanted to see why we were unhappy. Then she lured us away with the things we wanted, saying that she loved us all the while."

"She told us we could stay here and be happy," Tall-and-Noodly added, looking anxious. "All we had to do was say yes to the buttons."

"That bitch fucking plucked out our eyes and murdered us," Short-and-Justifiably-Grumpy spat out, furious. "We thought she cared and once she got us to buy her bullshit she ripped out our souls and threw us away like fucking garbage."

"Without our souls, we can't remember who we were and move on from here," Tall-and-Noodly finished. "So we are left trapped here for eternity."

"But...what is this place?" Nikki asked, her voice growing higher pitched with fear.

"It's the Beldam's web," Mid-Sized-High-Tops explained, and his form sat down in front of her to get on her level as he did. "Everything, the building, the garden, even the people. She wove it to better draw you in, making it seem like the perfect place. It's meant to supposedly fix what is wrong with your life, make you feel as if it is better than the real world."

"As much as I fucking hate this guy, he probably knows the most about all of this." Shorty noted, pointing to Mid-Sized.

"Aw, thanks buddy." Mid-Sized shrugged. "I don't remember a lot, and neither do these two, but I think I did try and escape. The Bedlam likes games, and I tried to use one to escape. But the Bedlam didn't play fair, and so she won and I still lost my eyes in the end."

"Oh," Nikki whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay though," Tall assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder that she couldn't feel. "The Beldam can't feed on you unless you accept the buttons, and that means she can't force you if you don't want to."

"But she'll keep her trapped here until she agrees, you dumb fucking moron," Shorty added.

Tall glared at him. "Dude, you're just going to freak her out!"

"So what? We're all trapped here, the only person in here that isn't dead might as well be for all the good that will do any of us, and I've kind of had fucking enough at this point. Forgive me if I'm not delicate enough for your sensitive nipples."

Mid-Sized facepalmed as the two continued to bicker, then looked back at her for a good long moment. "If you're still alive, that means...you can free our souls!"

"Uh, how is she gonna do that?" Tall asked, using a hand to hold back Shorty from attacking him as he raised an eyebrow at Mid-Sized. "The Beldam has her locked in here right now."

"The Beldam loves games. If she proposes a game to play, the Beldam will let her leave this room and she can look for our souls."

"Except, genius, she's probably just going to cheat again and she'll end up in the same fucking boat as you." Shorty gestured around. "Stuck here with us two assholes for eternity with no way of moving on from this horrifying existence. Only upside is she won't remember the shitty parents that caused her to fall into this fucking trap in the first place."

Nikki bit her lip and looked at the floor. "You guys...you don't remember your parents?"

All three shook their heads, and Tall explained, "Not really. We have a general idea of what they were like, but we can't remember what they look like or anything. I think I didn't get along well with my dad...or maybe it was my mom?"

"I didn't live with my parents," Mid-Sized added. "I think they died before I could know them."

"Oh...that sucks," Nikki muttered. She looked at Shorty and asked, "What about you? Do you remember anything?"

His scowl deepened. "Nope. And I don't fucking want to, anyway. Probably nothing good to remember about them anyway." He shoved his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie, looking away at the wall. "My guess is that they didn't fucking care, and considering who I am, not that surprising. I wouldn't care either. I'm pretty sure I was always a piece of shit."

"...I don't think that's a good reason," Nikki mumbled, resting her head on her arms. "It's okay though. My parents don't really care either."

Everyone was silent after that, and the three ghost kids sat around her quietly while she did her best not to cry again. And she imagined how much it must have sucked, to think someone finally cared about you and then to have your soul ripped away by that person. And now they were trapped even worse than she was, and at least if she died here she wouldn't be stuck like them.

"I...I can try and get your souls back," she offered, looking up at them. "I know she cheats, but...maybe I can beat her? And then you guys won't be stuck here anymore."

Tall looked at her nervously. "Are you sure? If you lose...you'll be stuck here forever too."

"But at least I won't be alone," she remarked, smiling uneasily. "It...I think that I should do it."

Mid-Sized nodded, smiling at her. "That's awesome. The Beldam will have hidden them around her world, but I'm sure you can find them. Once you have them and escape from here, we'll be set free and move on."

"I still think this is a shitty plan," Shorty remarked, shaking his head. Then, with a sigh, "Though if you actually manage to pull that shit off, that would be fucking great, I guess. It'd be nice to actually go to eternal nothingness instead of staying here in this dump."

She grinned. "Alright. I'll do my best!" Before she could say anything else, a hand grabbed the back of her shirt, and she found herself being pulled through the mirror as the ghost cried out in alarm, and she was soon lying in the hallway of the Other apartment.

"Wh-What?" She looked up and almost cried out at the sight of Other Space Kid and Other David looking at her. They both had matching grins, big and unnatural and absolutely terrifying. She started to crawl away from them, but Other Space Kid placed a hand on her shoulder in reassurance, and it was then that she noticed the stitches holding their mouths in place.

"Did she do this to you?" she whispered, quickly pulling the stitches out of Other Space Kid's face. Then she was on her feet and pulling them from Other David's, and the two looked utterly relieved, rubbing their faces as if it was painful before grabbing her hands and leading her away silently.

Eventually, the two brought her to the tiny door, opening it for her and shoving her inside.

"What about you guys?" she asked, worried. "Won't she just hurt you again?" Other David shook his head, making the same gesture for a third time. She bit her lip before nodding, whispering, "Thank you."

" _Nikki?_ "

With the voice of the Other Mother serving as a warning to quit stalling, she turned and crawled away, hearing the door shut behind her as she scrambled through the tunnel, racing for the other door as fast as possible. Finally she pushed it open and fell through, shoving it closed behind her.

She was home.

Nikki stood, her legs shaky and unsteady beneath her, and she headed for the kitchen to find there were abandoned grocery bags sitting on the counter, the smell of mold and rot and spoiled milk overwhelming. What called her attention most was the two pint containers of ice cream on the table, melted and congealed into a disgusting mess. There was her mom's favorite flavor, cappuccino, but there was also cookie dough ice cream and that was _her_ favorite flavor. Had her mom bought them?

"Mom?" she called, feeling hesitant. "Mom? Are you here?"

There was no response, and she went to look out the window only to see her mom's car parked outside.

Had she gone with a boyfriend? No, Mom would have at least put groceries away, and these groceries were so old. How old even were they?

How long had she been gone?

"Mom?!" she called again, running to the master bedroom and listening at the door before opening it. There was no Mom wrestling with anyone, or even her taking a daytime nap after a late night. She knocked on the bathroom door, but there was no response and she looked inside to find it empty of her.

She looked all over the apartment, calling her name, but no matter where she looked there was no response. She started to panic, looking around even in places her mom would never be. She checked every closet and under every bed and in the cabinets, but there was no sign of her mom no matter where she looked.

There was a knock at the door, and her heart soared for a moment with hope as she raced over and yanked it open.

"Nikki!" David cheerfully greeted her. "I'm so glad to see you! Now I know you were upset these last several days, so I talked with Mr. Campbell and had him move his drop site out of the garden, and I have some bulbs that we can plant if you want? So, what do you say?" Her face fell, and she stared at David as her eyes started to water. His smile vanished, and he knelt down in front of her with a concerned look on his face. "Nikki? What's wrong?"

She slammed the door in his face.

* * *

Nikki waited at the kitchen table that night, keeping an eye on the front door.

Her mother didn't come home.

Finally, when the kitchen clock said it was after midnight and she could barely keep her eyes open, she dragged herself to her room. As tired as she was, she didn't know how she'd be able to sleep without knowing where her mom was.

The bear was on the floor, his leg sticking out from under the bed, and Nikki sighed and bent down to retrieve him when she saw the doll. She reached under and pulled the doll out, before nearly dropping it as though it had burned her, now wide awake.

The doll still had green hair, but instead of pigtails it was styled in a ponytail, and she was wearing a white tank top and pink pants instead of overalls. The design was suddenly longer and skinnier, like an adult instead of a kid, and yet there were still those button eyes staring at her, reminding her of the Other Mother's terrifying stare. Instead of looking like Nikki, now it looked like her mom.

_"She used dolls that looked like us to spy on us. She wanted to see why we were unhappy. Then she lured us away..."_

"Mom," Nikki whispered, horrified. She grabbed the doll and ran from the room.

She was part way down the hallway when she heard something behind her, and she turned to see her mother in the mirror, beating on the glass from the other side with a terrified look on her face. It became more frantic when she appeared to make eye-contact with Nikki, and she began shouting something that was made unintelligible by the barrier between the two.

Nikki screamed, and she punched the mirror, shattering it in one hit.

Moments later there was frantic knocking at the front door, and she could hear Gwen calling her name distantly. She didn't respond, just staring at the shards on the floor as if she could see her mother through them if she just looked hard enough. The doll was left on the floor, staring at her, and blood trickled from cuts on her fist as she just looked at the broken mess in front of her, silently begging for this all to be a nightmare that she'd wake up from and her mom would be here and there wouldn't be a Beldam or three lost kids who were counting on her and maybe it wouldn't be perfect but it wouldn't feel like everything was falling apart around her.

After several minutes, there was a click and the front door opened, and Nikki didn't move even as there were footsteps in her apartment and her name was called. She didn't move when the footsteps stopped and there was the tiniest "fuck" said aloud.

Then there was a hand on her shoulder and she broke.

She wailed, tears streaming down her face and she desperately attempted to wipe them away but a bigger hand stopped her and David's voice distantly said, "Gwen, can you clean up while I take care of Nikki?" Then he was picking her up and carrying her away from the shards of the mirror, but she didn't care.

She just wanted everything to be okay again.

* * *

David didn't say anything to her as he wrapped a bandage around her hand. He didn't even scold her for doing something so reckless like punching a mirror, just sat there quietly and finished bandaging the cuts.

Nikki appreciated it. She didn't feel like talking.

Eventually, Gwen appeared from the hallway, announcing, "The glass is cleaned up." Then she held up the doll and asked, "What should I do with this?"

Before David could say anything, Nikki looked up. "Burn it." Her tone was so serious that both adults flinched at the demand, and neither dared to argue.

Gwen looked at the stupid doll before approaching the fireplace, tossing it inside with the logs. David frowned before pulling a box of matches from his vest and tossing them to her, and she quickly struck one against the box to light it before tossing it on the doll. As the flames over took it, burning the cloth to ashes and melting the button eyes, Nikki felt a hint of satisfaction at that, knowing that the Beldam wouldn't be able to watch her now that her little spy was destroyed.

"You scared the shit out of me, kid." Gwen sat on the couch beside David, looking at Nikki with concern. "I heard your scream and thought someone was attacking you. What happened?"

Nikki was silent. Would they even believe her if she told them? Monsters with button eyes and ghost kids needing souls and moms behind mirrors and other worlds that were actually traps and prisons. It sounded like a fairy tale instead of real life, and adults didn't believe in fairy tales from what Nikki knew. They would probably just blame her imagination or think she was crazy.

"Nikki, we can't help you if we don't know what's wrong," David said quietly, and he sounded more serious than he ever had before. "What ever is going on, we can't help if you don't tell us what happened and why you hurt yourself."

She looked at the floor and mumbled, "It's not like you'd believe me..."

"You don't know unless you try."

She sniffled, wiping her face with her uninjured hand. "There's...there's this door here. It took me to this place and there was a lady there who looked like my mom except she had buttons for eyes. And she wanted to make me stay there forever." Nikki shook her head. "She tried to trick me into sewing buttons into my eyes, and when I refused she threw me in this dark room and there were other kids there except they were ghosts and they couldn't leave because she had tricked them. They told me that she took their souls and now they're trapped there and they asked me to help them by finding them and I don't know how. And then when I managed to get out Mom's stuff was here but she was gone and that stupid doll is what that lady uses to spy on people so she can make them stay and she took Mom and now I don't know what to do!"

Both adults stared at her, and she crossed her arms and looked away.

"I knew you two wouldn't believe me." She stood up and headed over to her room.

"Nikki, wait-" Gwen began.

"No!" she shouted, turning around. "My mom is gone and the Beldam's got her, and I'm going to get her back!" With that, she stormed into her room and slammed the door.

* * *

"Jesus Christ, this is a nightmare," Gwen grumbled. Then she looked up at David and saw him wide-eyed, staring after Nikki. "David, you okay?"

"The Beldam," he muttered, and suddenly there was a shiver down her spine at that word. "Gwen, Jasper told me that name before he disappeared."

"David, you can't be serious-"

"He had a doll that looked just like him," David added, looking at her with big, sad eyes. "And I gave Max one I found that looked just like him too."

"David, it's no possible. There is no way-"

But David wasn't listening to her. "I didn't believe Jasper when he told me that there was someone after him. He told me she was called the Beldam. And he disappeared the next day. And if those dolls...I gave that doll to Max, Gwen. I spent years wondering if I could have prevented Jasper disappearing and then I sealed Max's coffin."

"So...you're saying that you actually believe that this weird lady with a name right out of Keats is real?" Gwen began, and her voice was full of disbelief. "David, it's not your fault what happened. Jasper and both those kids had terrible home lives and they probably ran away because of them. That had nothing to do with you."

David looked at her desperately. "It's too much to be a coincidence, Gwen. Three kids disappearing out of the same apartment. Nikki knowing about this Beldam when she couldn't have possibly met Jasper. Three dolls that look exactly like the children who had them."

"Except Nikki's didn't look like her, David," Gwen argued, sounding frustrated. "If anything, Nikki's doll looked like-" She stopped, her skin blanching, and she looked at the fireplace that still burned. "Fuck, the doll looked like her mom, David. Her mom who just suddenly went missing."

Both adults were silent at that.

"Gwen, can you stay here with Nikki?" David asked. "I'm going to grab pictures of Jasper and see if I still have newspaper clippings from when Neil and Max went missing, and I don't want to leave her alone with her mother gone."

"Y...Yeah, you got it David." Gwen nodded, still looking as though though she was processing. "Kid first, impending panic attack over potentially shattered world view later. You go get your whatever."

David nodded, and soon he was out the door, leaving Gwen on the couch staring at the fireplace.

* * *

Nikki pulled the blue hoodie over her head, and for the first time since she was offered the button eyes the itchy feeling grew less intense. She felt ready to stop crying and fuck shit up.

Into the pocket went three pencils sharpened to dangerous points, the pocket knife she stole from her old bully back home, and the black metal key to lock the door when she got out. Then, as an after thought, she kept the rock with the hole in it in her front overall pocket, hidden under the hoodie, just in case. If all else failed, it was another projectile to throw.

She looked at the unnamed bear on her bed and hugged it quickly. It would slow her down if she took it, but it was a reminder that she would get back no matter how long it took.

She opened the door to her room, looking around cautiously before quickly and quietly heading down the hall towards the tiny door.

She was just outside the room with the door when she heard Gwen say, "Where do you think you're going?"

She turned and glared at her. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Gwen looked at her, then sighed. "David and I had a conversation, and I might be close to a panic attack from the whole 'fairy lady kidnapping children' thing. I believe you, but now is not the time to be going all Leroy Jenkins on this shit. Do you even have a plan?"

Nikki straightened up. "The kid with the high tops told me the Beldam likes games. I'm going to tell her I want to play a game to get my mom and the three souls, something she'll agree to."

"...Kid, there is no way she is going to play fair. Come on, let's at least wait for David before we go barging into fucking fairyland or whatever. He will kill me if I let you go in by yourself with no plan."

"But I'm the only one who can go in!" Nikki argued. "And Mom might not have much time! If I don't go in there soon then she might not come back!"

Gwen looked torn, and Nikki gave her big, watery looking eyes, which given the situation were not hard to summon.

"Please Gwen."

"...Fuck." Gwen growled, placing her face in her hands. "God fucking dammit." She looked up and gave Nikki a deadly serious look. "Fine, but first some ground rules." She knelt down, looking Nikki right in the eyes. "You don't agree to anything you don't understand completely. You don't give her your real name. Ever. You better fucking cheat like you wouldn't believe, because she's not going to play fair and so you don't have to either. And, most importantly-" She gave a very solemn look. "You better come back, you little twerp. David doesn't need anymore guilt on his conscience and I don't need to lose my TV buddy, okay?"

Nikki nodded, saying quietly, "Okay. Thanks Gwen."

Gwen ruffled her hair. "Just hurry up. I'm trusting you to come back." With that, she turned and headed for the living room, leaving Nikki alone.

Inside the room, there was the tiny door. Instead of an exciting adventure, all that the door promised was terror and the chance that she'd break the promise she had just made to Gwen. Nikki checked to make sure everything on her was secure before pulling the door open and crawling through the colorful tunnel.

* * *

The apartment was no longer bright and home-like, and Nikki saw insect-like furniture everywhere. It was dark, with the only light coming from the fireplace, and Nikki felt anxious and hyper-aware of her surroundings.

"Nikki?"

She turned, and there was her mom down the hall, arms open wide. She nearly ran to her and lept into her arms, but then stopped. Something was wrong and she instantly knew what it was.

"You...you're not my mom!" she called, backing away. "My mom never calls me Nikki!"

Her fake mother scowled and her form grew tall and long and the color drained from her, and Nikki glared at the now insect-like form of the Other Mother, the Beldam.

"You've been a very bad daughter, you know," the Beldam said, her voice menacing and mocking. Before Nikki could reply, arms suddenly wrapped around her, and she looked up to see the sorrowful face of the Other Father looking at her, stretched and orange and no longer looking like her dad except for the hair on his misshapen head. It was absolutely horrifying.

"Let go of me!" she cried out, kicking and biting, but he didn't react to her attempts at hurting him. The Beldam approached and reached into the pocket, pulling out the black metal key and dropping it into her mouth, swallowing it whole. "No! Give it back! Give it back!"

"Now, lets go have some dinner," she said, her voice full of fake cheer, and the Other Father carried her after the monster, dumping her into a kitchen chair as the Bedlam went to the stove. "Go attend the garden now, dear." With those words, the Other Father waddled away.

Nikki was trapped. Without the key she couldn't leave. She was going to break Gwen's promise immediately after making it!

There was the sound of bacon frying, of a spoon scraping against the bottom of a bowl, of the Beldam humming some tune that she couldn't recognize. She tuned the sound out, instead attempting to put together the plan in her head. She was alone in the lion's den with the lion. There was no Gwen, no David, no Mom, no one who could help her come up with a plan to outsmart someone who tricked people as easily as she breathed. Somehow, it had to be Nikki to solve this problem. Just her.

_Chillax, Nikki. You've got this!_

She had to be the evil mastermind now.

"I want to play a game."

The Bedlam stilled, the humming stopping in an instant, and Nikki knew immediately that she had her. "Oh?"

"I mean, everybody loves games, don't they?" Nikki added casually. "Even you, I bet."

"Well of course," she said, and while her voice was smooth Nikki could tell that the Beldam was definitely interested. "Well then, what sort of game do you have in mind?"

Nikki gave her a cheeky grin. "A finding things game. There are plenty of things here that aren't supposed to be here after all, right?"

"Like what?"

"Like my mom," Nikki answered, and when the Beldam tutted and began to argue she added, "And the souls of those three kids in the mirror room. I know you have them hidden somewhere around here, don't you?"

"Oh really?"

"If we play, then you are going to let me look for them. If I find them all, then you have to let us go. All of us. Me, Mom, those kids, everyone you have trapped here. If I win then we all get to go free."

The Beldam smirked as she turned and began to set food on the plate in front of her. Nikki didn't touch it at all. "And what happens when you lose?"

Nikki scowled. " _If_ I lose, then I'll stay here. You can love me as long as you want and then discard me when I am no longer useful to you. And..." Nikki bit her lip, looking at the box in front of her. This was a bad idea, and Gwen would be so mad at her if she learned that she risked this, but if this all worked then there was no chance of that happening. Still, it was not something she wanted to do at all. "And I'll let you sew these stupid things in to my eyes." She gestured to the box.

"Hmm...but what if I don't want to play?" the Beldam asked. "At the moment, you can't leave either way. What's to stop me from keeping you anyway?"

"If you don't play, then you may have me forever, but you won't get any use out of me," Nikki promised, her voice cheerful and bubbly in that moment. "You won't get to sew buttons into my eyes, and when I die, it will be knowing that you got nothing." Then it was her turn to smirk. "But I don't think you're going to refuse, are you?"

"Hmm...alright then. Deal." The Beldam stuck out her hand.

Nikki shook her head, keeping her hand by her side. "I want a clue first."

"...Right then." The Beldam pulled her hand away. " _In each of three wonders I've made just for you, a ghost's eye is lost in plain sight._ "

"And what about Mom?"

The Beldam smirked again, simply tapping her right eye with one nail. Nikki scowled again crossing her arms, before glancing back at the button eyes. It looked like Mom was going to have to be saved for last.

"Fine. It's a deal." She turned back to the Other Mother, only to find her gone. "Hey, we never shook on it." If they didn't shake on it, then the Beldam would probably try to take advantage of that if she won. "Better work fast then." She looked at the window, pulling the curtains apart, and stared at the garden. "Wonders, huh?"

* * *

The garden was just as colorful and perfect looking as ever, but Nikki could feel how wrong and fake it was as she wandered through. The dirt under her feet, the vibrant plants, all of it wasn't real, wasn't natural, and she balled her fists in the sleeves of the hoodie to keep herself from clawing at her arms to try and relieve the itch.

Suddenly a button eyed hummingbird divebombed her, trying to get under her hoodie through the neck hole. She quickly snatched a pencil from her pocket and stabbed the stupid bird, and when it hit the ground sand poured out of the hole.

"Stupid motherfucker." She slipped her hand into the neck hole and fished the rock out of her front overall pocket.

Was that what the bird was after?

_"She said it was for seeing through illusions..."_

Nikki held the stone up to her eye, and blinked with surprise. Through the hole, the color was gone, replaced with a dim grey. She looked around, and suddenly she could see something spherical glowing blue through the stone.

"A soul."

Before she could go to retrieve it, the ground shook, and a mantis-like machine pulled itself from the ground, the Other Father at the controls. Nikki stared for a moment before instinct kicked in and she turned and ran.

She could hear the Other Father shouting and blubbering barely intelligible apologies as the mantis machine destroyed plants around her in an attempt to hurt her. She grimaced as she jumped over exposed roots and plants, and quickly caught sight of the bridge.

Evil mastermind.

She skidded into a turn, barely dodging the claws as she did, and raced for the bridge. As she ran across, she could hear the creaking and snapping of boards beneath the machine before the bridge lurched under her feet, and she barely managed to stumble back onto solid ground.

She turned to see the Other Father pull a spherical object from the controls of the machine and toss it to her, shouting, "Take it!" As she caught it, the machine glitched and fell limp, sinking into the water with the Other Father until both disappeared completely.

She looked down at the sphere in her hand before clutching it tightly to her chest.

_Jesus fucking Christ, you actually managed it. Well don't fuck it up now! Get a move on! Kick some ass! Go!_

As she turned to look back at the building, the garden withered and became gray stone, and above her the moon began to have a shadow creep over it. Nikki took a deep, shaky breath, readying herself for the next challenge.

One down, four to go.

To the basement.

* * *

The theatre was dark, all the lights gone. Nikki kept moving as quietly as possible, occasionally checking with the stone to look around for that strange glow again.

Finally, she spotted another blue glow on stage, where there was a strange armchair lit by the only light on in the room. Sitting on the seat was Other Gwen's remote, and the roller ball inside glowed when Nikki looked at it through the rock.

_Gee, I wonder if it's a fucking trap or something?_

No way around approaching it through, if she wanted to get the soul. She quickly placed the stone and the first soul into her overall pocket, safely hidden under the hoodie, and armed herself with a pencil up her left sleeve. Once she was prepared, she slowly crept up to the chair, silently reaching for the remote.

A hand snapped out from the cushions, snatching her wrist tightly.

"I don't think so, twerp."

Nikki pulled and clawed at the hand, which only squeezed tighter in response. Finally she pulled out the pencil and stabbed as hard as she could, and the Other Gwen's voice cried out in pain and the grip loosened.

Nikki quickly hid behind the curtains, and she heard the sound of sand hitting the floor and footsteps.

"You're an idiot if you think you can win on my turf," Other Gwen's voice rang out through the theatre. "With this remote, I control everything." There was a click, and suddenly the curtains began to open. Nikki moved quickly, running backstage, but with each click of a button sand bags began to fall, and she ran to dodge them before scaling up to the catwalk.

From there, she could see Other Gwen on stage, scowling viciously. "Where are you?"

Nikki gripped a pencil in each hand before jumping from the catwalk, screaming like a banshee as she fell on top of the Other Gwen and sunk both pencils deep into her chest. Other Gwen screamed in pain, dropping the remote, and Nikki scooped up the remote, ripping the little roller ball from the plastic casing.

The screams died, leaving only a brief echo as the room turned to an ash gray color. The howling, dying face of Other Gwen was drained of color before she slowly fell apart into a pile of sand, and Nikki was alone on stage, kneeling in the pile of sand that used to be alive.

_Thanks, Nikki. You've got this. Keep it together._

"Well, that scream will probably haunt my nightmares!" Nikki remarked aloud, forcing herself to sound cheerful and peppy in an effort to relax. A nervous laugh left her as she stood, brushing sand (not real not real not real) from her legs and the hoodie before tucking the second soul away.

It was time for the circus.

* * *

The steps upstairs were creaking and shaking, and Nikki did her best to make it up as quietly as possible. Tied along the railing and waving in the wind were articles of very familiar clothing, and Nikki felt herself fill up with fear and determination at the sight of a very familiar spacesuit that now hung off the building, limp and empty. Other Space Kid and Other David had helped her. Now she had to end this.

_Uh, I'm not an architect, but this isn't structurally sound at all. Be careful._

She reached the door and silently turned the knob, pushing it open.

The room was dark and filled with old props from the platypus circus, but none of the platypodes were visible. Nikki quickly grabbed the stone, holding it up to her eye, and the glowing sphere she saw through it appeared to be...moving?

"Well hey there, brave adventurer!" There was a sarcastic tone on the last two words, and Nikki soon saw Other Campbell stumbling around, headless. All that was left was his hat and clothing. She peeked through the rock and she could see the last soul inder the hat. "It seems you are making a terrible mistake. I wouldn't know, of course. I don't make mistakes."

"Jackass," Nikki mumbled, approaching him as carefully as possible.

"Why wouldn't you want to stay here?" he asked. "I'm not a gambling man, even though I am, but I bet that the world out there is not comparable to this place!"

"Uh, your apartment is a dump right now," Nikki pointed out. "Not that you have eyes to see it."

"I mean this world," Campbell argued, and his headless body stumbled again. "The real world is probably filled with pain and suffering. You'd do better here. Things are happy and wonderful."

"Hmm..." Nikki pretended to consider it, getting just close enough that she could reach the hat. "...Nah." With that, she ripped the hat off.

Other Campbell broke into a pile of sand and platypodes, the cloth of his clothing ripping and tearing. And in the bill of one of them was a small ball.

"Get back here!" Nikki shouted, grabbing a pencil and tossing it. It only grazed the platypus as it raced towards the door, as did the second one. She ran after it out the door, tossing a third pencil that embedded itself into the fur but barely stopped it for a moment. She slid out the door and tossed the stone at it in a last ditch attempt to stop it, just in time to hear a dangerous cracking sound, and the metal structure began to collapse beneath her.

Nikki let out a scream as she fell to the ground.

* * *

She came to just as the moon was covered by the shadow of a button, and she let out a sudden and broken sob.

She'd failed. She thought she could do it, but now she had failed and she'd never get to leave and neither would her mom or the ghost kids and it was all her fault.

"Muack."

She looked up at the sound, and several feet away was a weakly stumbling platypus, looking deflated as sand leaked from a hole in its body. She stumbled to her feet and ran at it, picking it up and forcefully removing the soul from its bill.

"Muack." The platypus sounded pained, and she gave it a good look before setting it down on the ground, gently patting it on the head as sand continued to leak from its body. It wouldn't last very long.

"Sorry, buddy."

_Good job! Now grab your mom and let's bounce!_

Nikki tucked the soul into the pocket with the others, patting it carefully with a smile, and turned back to the building. She had all three souls, now all she needed was her mother.

She calmly walked towards the other apartment, watching as the world around her withered and drained of color. It was like all the great things about this place were powered by the souls.

In the hallway, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls in thin strips, and the paint cracked and fell away into dust. Nikki could hear quiet encouragement from the souls (though Shorty's idea of encouragement was much more aggressive) as she approached the room with the door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

The Beldam didn't look close to human anymore. Her fingers were needles and she had eight limbs instead of four. Her face and skin were cracked like porcelain, and it was clear to Nikki that she was more like a spider than a person. Beside her sat a mirror, and Nikki could see her reflection in it, but it was strange.

"So...you're back," she said, and there was a tired quality to her voice that normally Nikki would be sympathetic to. Normally. Not with the monster who stole her mom, obviously.

"Yep," Nikki answered, glaring her down.

The Beldam stood and walked toward Nikki, tapping her nose with one of her needle fingers as she said, "You know that I love you."

"Really? Because trying to trick me into sewing buttons into my eyes and kidnapping my mom isn't exactly a sign of love," Nikki remarked, scowling. "It's a sign that you're completely bonkers and kind of a bitch."

It was the Beldam's turn to scowl. "Hmph. Fine then. The three souls?"

Nikki didn't move. "Nuh uh. We're not finished yet."

"Right. You still have to find your old mother."

"I don't think she'd appreciate you calling her old," she remarked, silently taking inventory of what she had. Pencils were gone, so was the key, and now-

"Too bad you won't have this." Spinning around on the Beldam's finger was the rock, which she showed Nikki with a smirk before flinging it into the green fire.

She didn't have the rock either. All she had was the knife and the three souls, and no idea where her mother was. How was she supposed to beat this stupid game now?

_She won't let you go even if you win._

_Don't have a cow. You can do it._

_Yeah, fuck shit up._

Nikki's eyes landed on the door, and a plan came to mind as she turned back to the Beldam, a confident smile on her face. She was going to be an evil mastermind.

"My mom's behind that door, isn't she?" Nikki suggested, a cheeky grin on her face.

The Beldam smirked, slowly approaching the door. As she did, Nikki looked around quickly, before her eyes landed on the mirror with the strange reflection. Oh. Of course. She slid as quietly as she could over to the mirror, sliding it under the hoodie against her stomach before turning back around at the sound of the Beldam hacking up the key.

"You're wrong, Nikki," the Beldam said mockingly as she unlocked the door, opening it wide and showing the empty tunnel. She lifted up a needle and thread, adding, "Now, you're going to stay with me  _forever_."

Nikki growled and lept upon her suddenly, climbing up her body and using her knife to cut at the strings holding her button eyes in place. The Beldam screamed in pain and stumbled from the door, and Nikki quickly threw herself off before she could be grabbed.

" _You horrible cheating girl!_ " The Beldam screamed, and suddenly the wooden planks of the room began to fall away, leaving only a void of white and a dark web that dangled down past the walls, with Nikki scrambling from the center. As she climbed the web, the Beldam fell down to the center of the net, screaming for her like a banshee. She was about halfway up when the hoodie caught on the web. She pulled it off and made sure the mirror was secure before continuing up.

She could feel the Bedlam crawling after her as she scrambled for the door, crawling inside and taking the key. The Beldam attempted to stick her head in, but Nikki screamed and kicked her face hard, grabbing the handle to pull it shut. The Beldam was clawing at the door to keep it open, and it was all Nikki could do to keep it from moving.

"Fuck off!" Nikki shouted, and suddenly she could feel other hands around her own, helping her pull the door shut just as a needle hand was stuck in. The door closed and the hand now disembodied, Nikki quickly locked it.

Suddenly she could hear something slam into the door, and she could still hear the Beldam scream.

" _No!_ " Nikki heard as she crawled as fast as she could down the tunnel, refusing to look back. " _I'll **die** without you!_ " She felt no sympathy as she made her way out the door into her apartment, turning to see the other door get closer with each time the Beldam slammed into it. With that, she slammed the door shut as hard as she could and locked it, and the force of the other door hitting sent the key flying in the air.

Nikki panted heavily, backing away from the door and shaking like a leaf.

"Nikki!" The door into the room swung open and there was Gwen, looking at her with a wide-eyed concerned expression on her face. "Fuck, kid, are you okay?"

"I...Mom!" Nikki pulled the mirror out from under the hoodie and winced as she cut her hand on the broken glass. She stared at the shattered mirror in her hands, scared that she had screwed this up.

Before Gwen could say anything, the front door opened and Nikki heard her mother's voice call, "Nicolette!"

"Mom!" Nikki dropped the mirror and raced for the door, barreling into her mother as fast as she could. Her mom stumbled as she was hit by a ten year old at full speed.

"Jesus, you act like I was gone overnight or something," her mom mumbled. She looked up to see Gwen and asked, "Uh, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm the downstairs neighbor," Gwen quickly improvised, and Nikki gave her a look that she met for a moment before adding, "I came to check that she was okay after hearing her cry out. Apparently she cut herself on some glass."

"I see. Well, thank you for taling care of my daughter then," Nikki's mom said with a quick nod.

"Yeah, no problem. She was...uh...really worried by how long you were gone?"

"Really, Nicolette, it was just for a few hours. I even got of work early today." Candy looked at herself for a moment before saying, "I think I'm going to go clean up now. Don't touch any more broken glass, alright?" With that, she headed back to her room.

"She...she doesn't remember?" Nikki asked, confused.

Gwen shrugged. "Eh, she'd probably be pretty traumatized if she did. I kind of had a panic attack while you were gone and I wasn't the one trapped in a mirror or anything." Gwen looked at Nikki again and asked, "Are you okay, kid? You look like you've been through hell."

Nikki reached into her hoodie, pulling the souls from her overall pocket and showing them to Gwen. "I found them."

"...Welp, that's slightly terrifying," Gwen noted. "I think I'm going to go downstairs and watch some terrible pageant moms to distract from my shattered worldview. Oh, and David will probably come by sometime later. I'll let him know everything is okay, but he'll probably still show up."

"Later Gwen," Nikki said, smiling brightly. "And thanks."

Gwen sighed. "No problem. Just try and stay out of anymore magical trouble."

* * *

Nikki was just about to make lunch when her mom came out of her room, looking fresh and like she was about to go out.

"Hey Nicolette, how about we go out for lunch and get some ice cream?" Candy offered, and Nikki blinked before grinning.

It was a fun outing. Nikki and her mom ate giant greasy hamburgers at a diner before they went to an ice cream parlor and got cups of cappuccino and cookie dough, eating at one of the tiny tables by the window. There was no flirting, no boyfriend, no phone calls.  It was just Nikki and her mom eating together and talking about work and adventures. The hamburgers weren't perfect, and her mom may have waxed poetic about the ice cream guy's muscles, and it wasn't as bright and colorful, and her dad wasn't there, but it was the closest to a perfect day Nikki had had with her mother in a long time.

After the ice cream was gone and the two left the parlor, Nikki gave her mom a quick hug, saying, "Thanks," with as much emotion as she could.

Her mom paused for a moment, before smiling and returning the gesture, ruffling Nikki's hair and answering, "No problem, Nicolette."

That night, when it was time for bed, Nikki looked at the three souls before tucking them under her pillow along with the key, smiling before laying down and hugging the bear to her chest.

Everything was okay again.

* * *

_"Alright, what the fuck is this bullshit?!"_

_Shorty tugged at the white shift he was wearing, a scowl on his face. He also had a pair of white fluffy wings and a halo over his head, which made his scowling face look so out of place that Nikki couldn't help but laugh along with the other two ghost kids._

_"Haha, laugh it up. Where the fuck is my hoodie?"_

_"I mean, this is probably based on Nikki's interpretation of 'moving on' or something," Tall remarked, picking at his own shift. "Ugh, I hate dream bullshit. Metaphysical stuff is more my dad's thing."_

_"Chillax, guys!" Mid-sized noted, turning to Nikki and grinning. "Thanks for your help. If it wasn't for you, we'd still be trapped in the Other World."_

_"Yeah yeah, thanks and all that stuff. Can I have my fucking hoodie back?"_

_Nikki blinked, then thought really hard. When she opened her eyes, all three kids were wearing their clothes from before, but now with color. She looked at Shorty and gasped._

_"The hoodie! It was yours!"_

_He scowled again, shoving his hands in the pocket of the familiar blue hoodie. "Yeah, thanks for highjacking my stuff, you fucking weirdo. Not that it matters anyway. I don't exactly need it now."_

_"Do...do you guys remember your names now?" Nikki asked, looking at all three of them._

_Tall nodded. "Yeah, we do. I'm Neil, by the way. The short asshole is Max."_

_"Go to hell."_

_"Please, like you believe it actually exists."_

_Mid-sized shook his head, facepalming before he added, "And I'm Jasper. Sorry we couldn't let you rest right now, but we had to warn you."_

_"Warn me?" she asked. "What do you mean?"_

_"You're still in danger, you fucking moron," Max growled out. "The spider bitch isn't going to leave you alone unless you make sure she can't get the stupid fucking key."_

_"You need to destroy the key, or at least put it somewhere she can never get it," Neil added seriously. "Who knows what shit she'll try to pull if she manages to get out of her world! If you want to stay alive, you need to get rid of that key as quickly as possible."_

_"How?" Nikki asked, a bit desperately._

_Jasper frowned, then offered. "My best friend and I used to go down the road up past the building. There is a wooden lid blocking this really old well that fell apart years ago. It might be your best chance."_

_She nodded. "Okay. So...are you guys moving on then?"_

_Neil shrugged, and Max griped, "Yeah, might as well get my eternal nothingness better late than never. Take care of Mr. Honeynuts."_

_"...the bear?"_

_"Yes, dumbass. Geez." He glared at her with annoyance. "But you tell anyone about him and I will come back and haunt you."_

_"Okay, I can do that."_

_"Oh, and if David is still around, kick him in the shins for giving me that fucking doll."_

_Nikki grinned. "I can definitely do that."_

_Jasper hesitated, before asking, "Tell Davey that I'm okay?" There was a sad expression on his face at that. "Make sure he knows I don't blame him for anything that happened." Nikki looked at his sorrowful stare and gave him a firm salute, nodding vigorously._

_The three ghost children disappeared just as she woke up._

* * *

Under her pillow, the souls were gone. The kids had moved on to eternal nothingness or whatever else might be beyond death. Nikki gelt uncomfortable thinking about it, so she laid her pillow down and found the hoodie, pulling it on and stuffing the key in her pocket. As she headed for the front door, she thought she heard a skittering sound, but a quick glance around revealed nothing before she shook her head and left the apartment.

"Hi Nikki!"

She leaped in the air with surprise before realizing it was just Space Kid. "What the heck, Space Kid! What are you doing out here? It's like three in the morning!"

"Oh, I was just looking up at the stars," he answered cheerfully, grinning. "The International Space Station is supposed to pass overhead tonight too!" Then he frowned. "Hey, why are you out here so late?"

"Uh..." Nikki scoured her brain for a response before finally saying, "Just gotta do a secret disposal mission. This is top secret, so keep it on the down low, alright?"

"Cool! Oh, you can borrow my bike if you want." He pulled a key from one of the pockets on his improvised space suit. "It's chained up by my mom's car. I painted constellations on it so you can't miss it."

She blinked. "Uh...thanks." She looked around to make sure no one else was out so late before adding quickly, "Wellgottagobye!" and racing down to the parking lot.

Space Kid's bike made the trip much quicker than she had originally expected, only a few minutes instead of several, and she soon spotted the wooden lid Jasper had mentioned. She set the bike aside and sat next to the well, pulling the lid out of the way and looking into the abyss.

"Whoa," she muttered, impressed with how deep it appeared to be. The stone sides disappeared into void-like darkness, and part of her thought that Max would get a kick out of this. Shoving that thought aside, she reached into her pocket, grabbing the key and pulling it out.

Suddenly, a familiar needle hand lept out, latching onto Nikki's hand. She shrieked, swinging her fist to fling it away, only for it to begin crawling at her at top speed. Nikki shoved the key into her mouth and grabbed the hand before it could launch at her face. She felt the sharp points of the fingers dig into her skin and grimaced, throwing it down and trying stomp on it.

The hand took one stomp before scrambling up her leg and torso, heading for her face. Nikki smacked at her chest and back until she finally got a grip on a finger and flung it away from her. The hand turned back onto its fingers, but only made a few steps before a large rock crushed it.

Nikki looked up to see David grimacing at the sight. Without a word, she quickly scooped up all the pieces of hand and dumped them unceremoniously into the well, followed by the key. Then David lifted the lid and plopped it on top of the hole, sealing it all away where no one could ever find them.

"How did you know I was here?" Nikki asked, confused.

"Space Kid said you were disposing of something," David answered, and Nikki silently cursed Space Kid for failing to keep it a secret and thanked him for possibly saving her life. "You weren't at the dumpster so I thought you might be here. Good thing I found you too."

Nikki nodded, sparing a glance at the new wounds on her hand. Jesus, hadn't they been through enough? Then, she remembered something.

"Hey David?" she said quietly, and he looked at her. "Jasper wanted me to tell you he's okay and that it wasn't your fault."

"Oh.."

Nikki gave a weak grin, adding, "Max also wanted me to kick you in the shin."

That drew a started laugh out of David, and soon she was laughing too. After several moments of that, David helped her pick up Space Kid's bicycle and the two walked back to the building, not saying a word.

It was actually over this time.

It was finally fucking over.

* * *

The garden looked awesome, and the bulbs Nikki had helped to plant had grown into tulips. Nikki rolled around in the dirt, and the itching feeling faded away as she did.

"Oh look! I appear to have landed on a strange planet!" Space Kid announced dramatically as he explored the garden. "I wonder if there is any intelligent life here!"

"Rargh!" Nikki shouted, on her feet in an instant. "I am the terrifying mud alien! Feed me!"

She chased Space Nerd around the perimeter of the garden, and on the sidelines Gwen sat in a lawn chair with a glass of juice, occasionally glancing at the two and shaking her head before turning to talk to David, who was shouting nonviolent encouragement to Space Kid to convince him to resolve the situation peacefully. His attempts were sadly (for him at least) ignored.

Nikki eventually flopped back into the dirt next to the tulips, feeling pleasantly tired as she looked up at the sky, and decided that she liked this world best of all.

**Author's Note:**

> Did I look at references for 90's slang to figure out some of Jasper's dialogue?
> 
> Yes. Yes I did.
> 
> Comparing this to the first story I posted here, this is a behemoth. I probably should have split it into different chapters, but oh well.
> 
> So there were some major differences, both from the fact that Camp Camp characters don't fit perfectly into the Coraline story and because it has been years since I've seen the movie.
> 
> I did look at clips for some of the Other Mother interactions, just to make sure I could keep her as close to the movie as possible, and used a synopsis later on to keep the order of events clear, but otherwise I went based on memory of the movie.
> 
> The cat was important, but by the time I realized I was missing such a crucial character, there was no real place to put him in without it feeling contrived, so he ended up replaced by Nikki's inate need for nature setting off alarms and lack of qualms about physically fighting bitches, some helpful advice from Candy and Other David, all those self preservation instincts she had long shoved into the background rising up when faced with getting buttons sewn into her eyes, and Jasper to pick up the remains. So yeah, sorry cat.
> 
> Other Gwen's thing was based on her couch potato tendencies and how firmly Nikki associates her with a TV in this AU. For background, my idea with Gwen was that after Ms. Priss was caught and sent to get help, David offered to let Gwen, a friend from college who was about to get evicted, stay rent free in the building until she got a job and could start paying for rent.
> 
> Then there are the ghosts having personality. I mean, this story was inspired by Find My Own Way, linked above, and takes place chronologically afterward. While the ghost children didn't have much going on beyond they were sad and dead in the movie, Max has a big personality that I couldn't just erase, and then it wouldn't be fair to Neil or Jasper at that point.
> 
> Space Kid is...Space Kid. He is half Wybie, half convenient plot device. Sorry I didn't do more with him.
> 
> So, yeah, I hope this story wasn't too much of a bummer. This was my first Camp Camp story as well as my first Coraline AU, as well as my longest one shot ever.
> 
> My tumblr is [a-romanticasexual](https://a-romanticasexual.tumblr.com). It is painfully empty at this point.


End file.
